1. Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims - in which American history teacher Rush Revere (and his horse Liberty) time travels with two of his students to observe life aboard the Mayflower and the Pilgrims' first winter.

2. Rush Revere and the Brave Patriots - in which Rush Revere (and Liberty) takes students to meet Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams and more as the colonies prepare for war.

3. Rush Revere and the American Revolution - in which Rush Revere and crew get front-row seats to the American Revolution!

4. Rush Revere and the Star-Spangled Banner - in which Rush Revere, Liberty, and students go back in time to witness the writing of the National anthem and get to see Dolley Madison in action!

5. Rush Revere and the Presidency - in which Rush Revere and friends learn about American elections firsthand!

These books all follow a similar style. Rush Revere is a substitute American history teacher at Manchester Middle School. In each book, he, talking horse Liberty, and several of his students travel back in time to witness early American history in the making. Each book focuses on a different one of his students, but Liberty is always one of the stars! The books make American history a lot of fun, but they also teach a *lot* of American history without ever making it boring or onerous. They are beautifully put together, have thick, glossy pages, include full-color illustrations, and include primary source documents. These books would make a sublime gift. In fact, that is how they came delivered to our home! They looked like a gift:

What We Thought

I loved these books. I have degrees in both political science and history, so it's not like I needed to be convinced either that history is fascinating or that it is worthy of study, However, if I had been on the fence, I couldn't be after reading these books. Like other time travel history for books, these books make history fun! Unlike other time travel history books for kids, these books showcase the importance and uniqueness of our own American history. When combined with their aesthetic beauty, they beg to be given as a gift to every family you know, homeschooling or not.

When the books came, my twins immediately set upon them like pirhanas. The kids each wanted to read them immediately -- and the books didn't disappoint. They are just great stories! The Limbaughs know how to entertain. Because we studied American history a couple of years ago, these topics were familiar to my kids, but there are still new tidbits to be gained in these books, which I love!

Mary-Catherine (12) wanted to start the series at the beginning, while Michael (12) was most interested in reading about the presidency. Personally, after having skimmed all the books, I think you can jump in anywhere. The OCD in me always wants to start a series at the beginning, though.

If you have kids who love history or time travel books, they would absolutely love these. My twins and I give them six enthusiastic thumbs up! One thing the twins really appreciated about the books was that they didn't talk down to them at all. They don't read like homeschool books (you either know what I'm talking about or you don't when I say this, but in our house, we don't like "homeschooly" fiction), and they don't read like educational books (which we don't mind, but they exist in a separate class from plain old good fiction). They just read like great stories! You don't have to rely on my recommendation alone, though. 99 other Crew members received this series, too, so be sure to click the banner below to see what they had to say.